If You're Gone
by wingsoflove
Summary: Heero Relena...would he wait until she was gone before knowing how much she means to him?... HxR


*** Your Title Here *** If You're Gone...  
  
"I would like to announce my engagement to Relena Darlian," Quatre stated.  
  
Heero's head suddenly snapped up, his eyes registering shock. But as quickly as he could, he unmasked his expression to his usual passiveness, though his eyes were aimed directly at Quatre as if shooting invisible daggers.  
  
Relena was most shocked with the announcement. Her reflex was to look at Heero first and was surprised to find out that he was not showing any emotion. Then she looked at everyone else in the room, they look as if they were waiting for something as they shifted their gazes from Heero to Relena and back again. Finally, Relena gave a questioning look at Quatre who stepped down the podium and bent over to give her a kiss on her cheek.  
  
Relena heard somebody clapped from the other side of the room and found Dorothy smiling broadly.  
  
"But –" Relena began but stopped when the room clapped together with Dorothy. Afterwards, congratulations were said.  
  
"I guess we are done here," Heero said gravely halting the noise while standing up and went towards the door. "Congratulations," he said before going out.  
  
Everybody in the room was silent for several heartbeats recovering from Heero's abrupt departure.  
  
"I --- I---" Relena began, standing up and breaking the silence. "I am sorry," she said softly, her eyes avoiding the people inside the room and headed to the door. "Excuse me," she said before going out the door.  
  
Nobody uttered a word until the footsteps faded along the corridor. "I thought we would never see you alive, Quatre," said Trowa with his lopsided smile as he stood up gathering the documents in front of him.  
  
Dorothy crossed the room and kissed Quatre on his lips which the latter returned with enthusiasm. "Well done, love," she said then cupped his face with her hand.  
  
Wufei gave a throaty laugh, crossing his arms in front of him. "That should do the trick. It's a good thing that our sacrificial goat lives longer to witness the end of this charade."  
  
"Man, I never knew I would live longer to witness that the great Heero Yuy is capable of human feelings after all!" Duo commented jokingly.  
  
"Didn't I tell you that this would work? If we cannot help the man, no one could," Quatre said looking at Dorothy.  
  
"It was a dangerous trick you played, Quatre," Noin said.  
  
"It was worth it, anyway," Quatre said, circling his arms around Dorothy's shoulder.  
  
"And besides, I would not let him harm my man," Dorothy said.  
  
Heero let out a deep breath and worked out his emotion by punching the tree in front of him. Why---? he thought Why am I feeling this way? It's as if---- His thoughts trailed off as he felt something sticky enveloping his tightly closed knuckles. He tore off his gaze on the breaking waves of the sea then looked at his hand. He was unaware of the number of times he threw punches on the now dented tree bark and of the pain on his hand.  
  
Relena… he thought.  
  
His head snapped up when he heard a sudden movement a few feet behind him. He turned to look and surprised to find her standing there, loneliness mirroring in her eyes.  
  
"Heero ---" she began.  
  
"What are you doing here? You should be with the others celebrating your engagement," Heero stated gravely then turned his attention to the waves breaking at the rocky shore.  
  
"It's not true---" Relena began. "Please, Heero."  
  
"Relena," Heero began. He turned around and stood in front of her. Somehow, his expression mellowed a bit when he saw the distress on her face. "You don't have to explain anything," he said, cupping her cheek and wiping away the tears with his thumb. "I never had the right over you."  
  
Relena's heart suddenly gave a jerk at Heero's movement. It's now or never, Relena thought. "Heero, I know I never meant anything to you, but--- but I want to let you know that---"  
  
Heero silenced the remainder of her sentence by touching the tip of his finger on her lips. Then for several heartbeats, he just stared deeply through her eyes.  
  
"I am sorry. I am incapable of handling emotions. I was brought up to be a perfect soldier. I cannot put into words what I am feeling right now," Heero said, placing his hands on his sides. He could not bring himself to look directly at her so he focused on her silky hair being blown by the wind. "I never felt anything like this before," he concluded, rather morosely.  
  
Relena could not help her tears from falling down because of what Heero had just stated.  
  
"All I know," Heero continued, "is that whenever you are in pain, I feel the pain a thousand times more. Whenever you are near me, whenever I feel your touch, I feel like floating in space, no one else matter except you and me."  
  
For several heartbeats, Heero just stood her looking at her face, as if memorizing each detail. Then he spoke, "And if you're gone, I feel there is no reason for me to live anymore."  
  
Relena felt her heart squeezed with happiness and love. She felt like flying with the birds above and floating on the waves below. Never in her life could she believe that the man standing in front of her now would admit anything to her. He loves me, he loves me, he loves me… Relena felt her heart beat the same rhythm over and over.  
  
"I am sorry," Relena began, smiling. Heero suddenly had a panic-stricken look in his eyes. "I am incapable of facing any emotions. I was brought up to be a defender of peace. Let me put into words what I am feeling right now," Relena said softly, her voice filled with emotions and she could not help her tears from falling. She immitated what he had said before. "I never felt this way before."  
  
Heero's feature suddenly relaxed, but still held her eyes like magnet, unable to look away, less he missed every emotion that crossed on her face.  
  
"All I know," Relena continued, "whenever you put your life in danger, I feel like dying a thousand deaths. Whenever I turn around and find you there, I feel my body heat up and my bones melting."  
  
Relena stopped speaking and cupped Heero's face, running her thumb over his lips.  
  
"And if you're gone, there is no reason for me to live anymore."  
  
Then as quickly as she could blink, Heero enclosed her in a tight embrace, locking her lips in a passionate kiss that left both of them breathless. Relena released a moan as she returned the favor of kissing him back. Then before they die of air deprivation, Heero released her lips, he burried his head on the joint of her neck and shoulder, enveloping himself with her sent that seemed to haunt him for years.  
  
"If the feeling I have for you is synonymous to love then…. I love you, Relena."  
  
Relena felt the earth move under her feet at that. "I love you, Heero," she whispered back and tightened her embrace.  
  
Then Heero raised her head and found her eyes. "what about the wedding?"  
  
"What wed---? Oh, the wedding! I don't think there will be one unless I was asked to be his wife," Relena said.  
  
"You mean---" Heero broke off.  
  
"That is what I was telling you about. Quatre never asked me to be his bride and I am quite sure that he and Dorothy are hitting it off quite well."  
  
Heero gave his death look then quickly recovered and replace it with a smile. "All along, he remained a friend. He did all this to provoke me to face my emotions. I thought he stole you from me behind my back."  
  
"You mean, he knew that you loved me and never told me?" Relena asked flabbergasted.  
  
"I never told them anything, but they guessed," Heero said and kissed her forehead. "I almost killed the man inside that auditorium. It's a good thing I was able to make a graceful exit before I committed a crime."  
  
"Oh, Heero," Relena released a deep breath. "Where do we go from here?"  
  
"We go back to your room to gather your belongings, then we'll go secure the necessary documents, then leave for the L1 Colony…" Heero enumerated them pulled her off him and kissed her hand. "Will you marry me?"  
  
"Yes. Yes, Heero," she said and wrapped her arms around him.  
  
They were locked again in a kiss more passionate than before.  
  
Five hours after that, the whole of the Preventers, together with Dorothy, Katherine and Hilde, bid the newlyweds their farewell as the couple boarded their shuttle towards their home. 


End file.
